Category Archives: Freedom

Q: Many years ago, there was a controversy over whether North Carolina could be called First in Freedom on license tags. The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles also issued auto license plates with First in Flight which were challenged by Ohio. After all these years of that, I now see that new license plates are back to First in Freedom. What other firsts can North Carolina claim?

Answer: According to the state Department of Transportation, the First in Freedom plate recognizes two events: The signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775, and the Halifax Resolves on April 12, 1776.

These two events are also commemorated on the North Carolina state flag, according to the DOT, and are regarded as the first steps toward independence from Great Britain during the early stages of the American Revolution.

You can read more about the Mecklenburg Declaration at the Mecklenburg Historical Associations website, http://www.meckdec.org/declaration. Bear in mind that some historians dispute the authenticity of that declaration. Also, there has been some controversy about how appropriate the slogan First in Freedom is for a state that allowed slavery for so long.

First in Freedom plates were reinstated as an option in 2015. At the time, Gov. Pat McCrory said North Carolina is a state of firsts and we continue to be a leader in innovation. What a great way to celebrate North Carolinas rich history and the birth of our nation by offering drivers a chance to proudly display a plate that honors our contribution to freedom, here in one of the most military friendly states.

As to First in Flight, the dispute there is over which state should get credit for the flight of Wilbur and Orville Wright, who were from Ohio but made their historic flight in North Carolina. According to NCPedia.org, Wilbur was gathering information about flight and wrote to the United States Weather Bureau to learn about wind speeds in different places around the country to find the most favorable conditions.

The Weather Bureau told Wilbur about Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks. Wilbur then wrote the Kitty Hawk weather station to ask about the area. He received a warm reply from the local postmaster, Bill Tate. Kitty Hawk had more to offer than just strong winds, Tate told Wilbur. It also had soft sand for landing a glider and friendly people who would be willing to help. And it was an isolated place where Wilbur could get the privacy he wanted.

The brothers traveled back and forth between their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, and Kitty Hawk while working on the project.

Connecticut also claims to be first in flight, citing a powered flight by Gustave Whitehead there in 1901, two years before the Wright Brothers flight in 1903.

As to other firsts, according to the Secretary of States office, we can claim the first public university in the United States (UNC Chapel Hill), the first English child born in America (Virginia Dare), the first state art museum, the first outdoor drama in America (The Lost Colony), Americas first gold rush, and the first known miniature golf course, which is neat but probably not good fodder for a license plate slogan.

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Ask SAM: Is NC First in Freedom? Flight? Anything else? - Winston-Salem Journal

For decades now certainly since Ronald Reagan, if not before conventional wisdomhas held that conservatives and Republicans care more about freedom, while liberals and Democrats care more about equality.A slightly more sophisticated version holds that the distinction is between negative liberty (freedom from) and positive liberty (freedom to), a distinction usually attributed toIsaiah Berlins1958 essay Two Concepts of Liberty,though itsactually found in Eric Fromms 1941 book Escape From Freedom, as highlighted by Conor Lynchhere at Salon back in February a point well return to below.

Butfindings ina newNPR/PBS Marist pollneatly refutebothversions of the claim.The pollasked ifwe have gone too far in expanding or restricting freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to protest the government and the right to vote. On all four questions which hinge on questions of government restriction and thus negative liberty conservatives and Republicanswere more likely to say freedoms had been expanded too far, compared toliberalsandDemocrats. And on all issues except religious freedom, conservatives andRepublicanswere significantlymorelikely to say rights had been expanded too far, rather than restricted too much.

Lets start with the three most clear-cut questions:

The pattern here is unmistakable. While the numbers are almost all pluralities, with large numbers taking middle positions,Republicans and conservatives are consistentlymuchmore likely to think that rights have been expanded toofar, while Democrats are much liberals are more likely to think they have been restricted too harshly. On these three key issues, conservatives display much greater antipathy to freedom than Democrats/liberals do. Whats more, itsnegativefreedom a supposed conservative value that they object to. They want more restrictions placed on people. They want to place more power in the hands of the state to control the press, to stifle citizens criticism and to limit voting.

There should be nothing surprising in any of this. Conservatives everywhere around the globetend to share these same tendencies. But with such basic freedoms enshrined in our First Amendment, American conservatives have long been forced to express themselves in morecircuitous, devious, or deceptive ways. Until the passage of the 14thAmendment, for example, state governments were not limited by such guarantees of freedom, and state-sanctioned churches were once commonplace. And of course, states had complete control of who would be allowed to vote a right contested repeatedly throughout our history.

The NPR/PBS poll results on freedom of religionactually illustrate the broader pattern of how American conservatives work around the basic liberal thrust of the Constitution.As mainstream acceptance of same-sex marriage began to seem inevitable, the religious right poured enormous energy into a bold attempt to redefine the battlefield in a never-ending culture war. This was analyzed in depth in in a January 2016 report,When Exemption is the Rule: The Religious Freedom Strategy of the Christian Right,by Frederick Clarkson, whichI wrote about herewhen it came out. The strategy today of cloaking discrimination in the garb of religious liberty has been tried before, as Clarkson noted:

As recently as the 1980s, Christian Right activists defended racial segregation by claiming that restrictions on their ability to discriminate violated their First Amendment right to religious freedom.

Instead of African Americans being discriminated against by Bob Jones [University], the university argued it was the party being discriminated against in being prevented from executing its First Amendment rights. The Supreme Court disagreed.

The fact that the religious right has been much more successful this time around(most notably in theHobby Lobbycase)has everything to do with political power having reshaped the courts, and nothing to do with the actual meaning of religious liberty. As I notedin my previous article, the worst violations of religious liberty actually came from the anti-gay religious right itself from a 2012 constitutional amendment in North Carolina, which criminalized the performance of gay marriage. The law was successfully challenged by the United Church of Christ in 2014.

In fact, the preface to Clarksons report was written by theUCCs general minister and president, the Rev. John C.Dorhauer. The North Carolina law made it clear that genuine religious liberty was thelastthing the religious right was interested in. Still, its a powerful propaganda tool, as reflected in the NPR/PBS poll, in which religion was the only issue where the Republican/conservative response at least gave the appearance of favoring freedom although not as strongly as the Democratic/liberal response.

Democrats thought religious freedom had been restricted rather than expanded too far, by 27 percent to 9 percent, while Republicans thought the same by 34 to 17 percent. So Republicans were more likely to endorse bothviews, but were almost twice as likely as Democrats to say that religious freedom had been expanded too far.

Taken all together, the four NPR/PBS freedomquestions and the responses tell us everything we need to know about how Republicans and conservatives really feel about freedom. The only area inwhich their anti-freedom bias is muffled is precisely the area in which that freedom has been vigorously redefined around the right toinfringeonthe rights ofothers.

Conventional wisdom aside, this poll shouldnt be the least bit surprising. Since the 1970s, theGeneral Social Surveyhas asked questions about whether unpopular views should be heard for instance, those of atheists, communists, socialists, homosexuals, racists and advocates of military rule. Questions are posed in three different forms about allowing someone to speak, allowing a book to remain in the library or allowing someone to teach in a college or university. As one might expect, liberals have consistentlybeen more tolerant than conservatives of all the usual suspects but theyve also been more tolerant of racists and militarists, too. Conservatives, in contrast, areconsistentlymore willing to restrict others rights.

The truth is, conservatives love totalkabout liberty, but theyve always had peculiar ways of defining it.Religious liberty is just one example of a broader strategy.AsI wrote back in 2012:

Both Ron Paul and his son, Rand, oppose the 1964 Civil Rights Act, because it outlaws private acts of discrimination. This is an infringement of liberty, they argue. And theyre right: just like laws against murder, it infringes the liberty of bullies. And thats precisely what justice is: the triumph of right over might.

I went on to note that in June 2004, Rep. Ron Paul was the sole voice in Congress to oppose a commemoration ofthe 40th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. On the House floor, he said:

the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not improve race relations or enhance freedom. Instead, the forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty.

Two years later,as I notedhere,Rand Paul tried to rewrite his own history before an audience at the historically black Howard University in Washington. Ive never been against the Civil Rights Act. Ever, he said. I have been concerned about the ramifications of the Civil Rights Act beyond race but Ive never come out in opposition. Rachel Maddow then refreshed his memory with a tape of his 2010 appearance on her show,reminding us of what hed actually said.

But its not just thePaulsandlibertarians. Freedom is such acentralAmerican value, its not surprising that conservatives, like everyone else, would seek to lay claim to it. On the level of elite discourse, they have received sporadic hints of support from political scientists. From the 1950s onward, various researchers have proposed different ways of structuring political beliefs, using more than just one dimension.Hans Eysencks1956 book Sense and Nonsense in Psychologywas one early example, positing one dimension called Radicalismand another called Tender-Mindedess (T-factor).One of Eysencks more technical critics, Milton Rokeach, went on to develop his own two-factor theory based on equality and freedom, in the 1973 book The Nature of Human Values.But his viewsand findingsdidnt match what American conservatives wish to claim.

Rokeach and histeamused content analysis ontexts using frequency counts covering more than a dozen values. They drew on various socialists, plusAdolf Hitler(representing fascism), BarryGoldwater (representing capitalism) and Lenin (representing communism), with the following results:

Socialists: Freedom ranked 1st, Equality ranked 2nd

Hitler/fascism: Freedom ranked 16th, Equality ranked 17th

Goldwater/capitalism Freedom ranked 1st, Equality ranked 16th

Lenin/communism Freedom ranked 17th, Equality ranked 1st

Of course, American liberals are watered-down socialists at best, leaving no difference at all between them and Goldwater in terms of freedom, only in terms of equality. Whats more, during the decade afterRokeachsbook appeared, Goldwater responded to the rise of the religious right with a distinct chill. In todays environment, 30 years after that, the former Arizona senator would no longer represent a typical conservative .

What has kept the conservative claim to care about freedom alive is less on the level of political philosophy, and more on the level of political trench warfare and the propaganda that supports it.In 2012, I wrote about the ways that Planned Parenthood and the NRA representedtwo contrasting models of freedom, which play key roles in Americas decades-long culture wars. The NRA constantly uses the language of freedom, far more prolifically than Planned Parenthood does.

Yet a careful examination of the underlying history and facts shows a much stronger case for Planned Parenthoods model, reflected for example in the quantities of lies used both to promote the NRA and to attack Planned Parenthood.Virtually no one wants to take guns away from ordinary law-abiding Americans, for example, even though the NRA frequently makes such claims, while opposing common-sense measures thatits own membership strongly supports. At the same time, Planned Parenthoods enemies want to shut it down completely. Its not just abortions they oppose, but everything Planned Parenthood does toempowerwomen to have control over their own bodies. What could be more fundamental to the idea of liberty than that?

As I wrote at the time, Its not just that conservatives are opposed towomens freedom, they genuinely cant even conceive of it. Women are non-persons. They have nothing to do with discussions of freedom unless, of course, they want to buy a gun.

In short,thislatestNPR/PBS poll resultsimply underscoreswhat we already know: Liberals and Democrats actually care about freedom substantially more than conservatives and Republicans do.When it comes down to the most basic forms of freedom Americans have long recognized,conservatives may talk a good game, butthat talk is largely BS.

But is there something more than BS going on here?As I mentioned at the beginning, the notion of positivevs. negative freedom is usually traced back toIsaiah Berlin, but Fromms earlier work sheds a different light on things. As Conor Lynch wrote in February:

Fromm posits that industrialization and the rise of liberalismresulted in the complete emergence of the individual (i.e., individuation), along with newfound freedom, butalso upended primary ties that hadonce provided men and women with security and a feeling of belonging and of being rooted somewhere.

Lynchgoes on to quoteFromm:

If the economic, social and political conditions on which the whole process of human individuation depends, do not offer a basis for the realization of individuality while at the same time people have lost those ties which gave them security, this lag makes freedom an unbearable burden. It becomes identical with doubt, with a kind of life which lacks meaning and direction. Powerful tendencies arise to escape from this kind of freedom into submission or some kind of relationship to man and the world which promises relief from uncertainty, even if it deprives the individual of his freedom.

And that, in the end, is where the hunger for lies and propaganda comes from, which is why simply refuting it is never enough. One must find ways to alleviate the craving for it as well.

This is also whypositive liberty for the individual is never enough, even for those who dont suffer directly the way that Fromm describes. As traditional foundations for security erode, new ones must be created in their place, through the collective exercise of positive liberty. Following a strong authoritarian leader, and imbuing him with perceived infallibility, is one way toreplace those lost foundations.But society as a whole can create other, betteroptions: new frameworksofshared meaning that draw on the past critically, bringing new concerns into focus along with the old.

This is precisely what social movements like Black Lives Matter have done, at their best. Their political work necessarily derives from a much longer time-frame of historical consciousness and forward-looking aspiration. It is profoundly difficult to translate the significance of such efforts into snapshot public opinion polls. Their most important work is not altering how people respond to polling questions. Its altering how people question the world as they encounter it, discoveringnewquestions that need asking to form the shape of freedomin a worldnot previously imagined.

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Conservatives claim to love freedom but the historical record, and the evidence, suggest otherwise - Salon

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BRANFORD, Conn. (WTNH) - A dog a named Freedom is recovering at the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter in Branford and is doing much better.

Freedom was brought to the shelter on Wednesday. His teeth were shaved down and he had marks on his legs indicating he may have been tied up. His ears were also badly damaged.

Officials believe Freedom was injured in an illegal dog fighting ring. Police are now investigating.

When we first initially saw him our thought was that he was used as a bait dog as part of a fighting ring, said Laura Burban, director of the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter.

Related Content:Shelter official: Dog possible victim of illegal fighting

Shelter staff are not sure exactly where the dog was found. He had surgery to fix his ears on Wednesday night and his injuries were cleaned. Though he was not feeling well on Thursday, he has been improving.

Over the weekend hes kind of taken a turn for the better, said Burban. Hes wagging his tail, happy boy, happy to meet people and give kisses and those types of things.

Burban walked Freedom outside the animal shelter on Monday. He was curious and friendly. The dogs ears are healing, though he still has visible wounds on his face and legs.

The vets think the dog is from five to seven years old, and that he is some sort of pit bull mix. They will be doing a DNA test to find out for sure.

For right now were just focused on getting him healed and having his true personality come out, Burban said.

Freedom has a long road ahead. Staff will be introducing him to more people as he gets better. The hope is after that he will go to his forever home.

Were thinking hell probably need a full month to fully heal, Burban said. Then were going to start really evaluating him to see what kind of home hes going to do best in.

Staff say some families have already expressed interest in adopting Freedom after he gets better.

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Dog named Freedom recovering at Branford animal shelter - WTNH Connecticut News (press release)

President Trumps speech in Warsaw was a remarkable paean to freedom. In words proud and strong he celebrated the human spirit. He quoted Polish martyr, Bishop Michael Kozal: More horrifying than a defeat of arms is a collapse of the human spirit.

In that same city 38 years before him Pope John Paul II, the most potent moral force of the 20thCentury, celebrated a mass for the Polish people. One million people gathered to pray. One million strong they shouted, We want God.

Just as freedom cannot survive without faith, communism cannot survive when faith exists. One year later, in their pews and on their knees, the Poles prayed silently to to their communist oppressors. In a single voice they said, You may take our state. You may take our freedom. You may not take our God.

From those humble pews they rose and took to the streets in the shipyard of Gdansk and Solidarity was born.

My wife, Lynne, and I were in Paris on that August day in 1980. We were scheduled to fly to London, but all flights had been cancelled due to the disruption in Gdansk. The trains were packed and the best we could do was catch a train to Oostende, Belgium and then a ferry to Folkestone, England.

It was well after midnight. People on the boat were leaning against walls and sitting on the floors. The excitement was tempered by anxiety. Something big was happening in Europe. No one knew quite what it portended, but there was electricity in the air.

In Folkestone we rented a car to begin a weeklong drive through England. A few nights later, in a very small and very old hotel in Hereford, we dressed for dinner. (Yes. We did that then.)There was only one customer in the dining room. A short rotund little man sat at the end of the bar chatting with the bartender. I had just been watching cricket on television while dressing and had no clue as to the rules of the game. He was a huge cricket fan and patiently explained the rules to Lynne and me.

He may have been stretching the story out a bit because I was buying his drinks. After he had consumed three drinks I was more confused than when he started and changed the subject to what was happening in Poland. He got very pensive. It is, he said ponderously, the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. I thought that a bit much, but nine years and three months later the Soviet Union was no more.

The Poles are leading again today. They hold their values dear and believe theyre worth protecting at their borders. President Trump addressed those borders: For two centuries, Poland suffered constant and brutal attacks.But while Poland could be invaded and occupied, and its borders even erased from the map, it could never be erased from history or from your hearts.In those dark days, you have lost your land but you never lost your pride.

The borders are back and Poland refuses to yield to the pressure of the Eurozone to obfuscate them. They refuse to allow the invasion of foreigners. In the past 3 years there have been 28 events of terror from Belgium to France, England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States. There have been none in Poland.

It is the natural course of events for humans to choose to bring fairness and equality to the forests by cutting down the taller trees so that they will have no advantage to the sun over the rest. Similarly, the nations of the Eurozone would have Poland lower itself by opening its borders to share equally in the carnage from terrorism. Will Poland succumb? Will they have the will to maintain their borders and their values?

The president made it clear in Warsaw that our challenge is not of weaponry or strategy or might. It is a challenge of the will.

The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?

In Warsaw President Trump urged Poland to lead the way for free nations across the globe once again. Let us welcome strangers to our shores, but let us welcome only those who want to share our values as well as our largesse.

If you would like to be added to John Linders distribution list please send your email address to:[emailprotected] or follow on Twitter: @linderje

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A Paean To Freedom In Poland - The Daily Caller

Avigdor Liberman. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Israel is not bound by the US-Russian brokered ceasefire in Syria and will act when and where necessary to protect its security interests, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Sunday.

Liberman, on a tour of Ashkelon, said that Jerusalem is studying the understandings reached between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the cease-fire.

Israel reserves its complete freedom of action, regardless of any understandings or developments, Liberman said. We retain exclusive responsibility for the security of Israeli citizens, and therefore our freedom of action is absolute. We will do everything that is needed.

On another matter, Liberman addressing reports in a Lebanese newspaper about a possible deal involving the release of the bodies of two slain IDF soldiers held by Hamas and two Israeli civilians being held by the group in Gaza said there were continuous efforts underway to gain their release.

However, he said, There is no significant breakthrough, the efforts are continuing all the time.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Syrian issue at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, saying Israel will welcome a genuine cease-fire in Syria, but that it must not enable the establishment of a military presence by Iran and its proxies in Syria in general and in southern Syria in particular.

Netanyahu has long told the Russians that in any order that will emerge in a post-civil war Syria, Israel will not countenance either an Iranian or Hezbollah presence on the Golan Heights. The premier said that he discussed matter last week with both Putin and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Both told me that they understand Israels position and will take our demands into account, he said.

Netanyahu said Israel will carefully monitor the developments in Syria, while strongly upholding our red lines.

He defined those red lines as preventing the transfer of precision weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, via Syria; preventing Hezbollah or Iranian forces from establishing a ground presence along the border with Israel; and preventing the establishment of a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria.

Meanwhile, a monitor and two rebel officials said that the US-Russian brokered cease-fire in southwest Syria was holding, in the latest international attempt at peacemaking in the six-year war.

The United States, Russia and Jordan reached a cease-fire and de-escalation agreement this week with the aim of paving the way for a broader, more robust truce.

The announcement came after a meeting between Trump and Putin at the G20 meeting of major economies in Germany.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said calm was prevailing with no air strikes or clashes in the southwest since the truce began at noon on Sunday.

The situation is relatively calm, said Suhaib al-Ruhail, a spokesman for the Alwiya al-Furqan rebel group in the Quneitra area.

In Deraa city, another rebel official said there had been no significant fighting. It was quiet on the main Manshiya front near the border with Jordan, which he said had been the site of some of the heaviest army bombing in recent weeks.

A Syrian official indicated that Damascus approved of the cease-fire deal, describing the governments silence over it as a sign of satisfaction.

We negotiated a cease-fire in parts of Syria which will save lives, Trump said on Twitter on Sunday. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia! The deal marks the first peace-making effort in the Syrian war by the US government under Trump, appearing to give him a diplomatic achievement at his first meeting with Putin.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Liberman: Israel will retain freedom of action in Syria - The Jerusalem Post

The House Freedom Caucus is pushing for Republicans to adopt one of three possible approaches to the debt ceiling, calling for it to be addressed before Congress adjourns for the August recess.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged Congress to increase the debt ceiling before the August recess, but the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the country will not run out of borrowing options until mid-October.

Mnuchin has also urged a clean debt lift, which would keep any additional policy riders on the sidelines, but senior administration officials have continued voicing their support for attaching such riders.

That option was proposed in a bill introduced Thursday by Rep. David SchweikertDavid SchweikertFreedom Caucus backs three debt ceiling options Bipartisan lawmakers give blood in honor of Scalise GOP senators pleased with Ivanka Trump meeting on family leave, child tax credits MORE (R-Ariz.).

The second option would acquiesce to the debt ceiling being attached to the budget resolution, but demand that associated mandatory spending cuts increase to $250 billion.

The House Budget Committee had originally settled on $150 billion in cuts, mostly from welfare programs, but the Freedom Caucus had refused to support the plan unless cuts increased to $200 billion. Moderate Republicans have said that even the lowest of these figures would be difficult to pass.

The final option would be to link the debt ceiling to the ObamaCare repeal effort in the event that the bill was split into separate repeal and replace sectors.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellOvernight Healthcare: Senate Republicans eye repeal vote next week | Pence endorses repeal and delay | Cruz-Lee proposal hinges on budget score RNC head: Cancel August recess to work on ObamaCare repeal Feehery: The golden generation MORE (R-Ky.) has thrown cold water on the idea of splitting the bill, despite conservative support for the idea as a Plan B if the current bill under consideration fails in the Senate.

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Freedom Caucus backs three debt ceiling options - The Hill

Miami Herald

In Doral 'freedom rally', Scott promises to crack down on Venezuelan government Miami Herald Gov. Rick Scott, appearing in Doral on Monday at a rally against the government of Venezuela, said he plans to move ahead with a proposal that would ban any organization that does business with the Nicols Maduro regime from doing business with the ... Florida Gov. Rick Scott Holds Rally For Venezuela Freedom in DoralNBC 6 South Florida Ahead of Venezuela freedom rally, Rick Scott says it is important to be a 'voice for freedom'SaintPetersBlog (blog) all 79 news articles »

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In Doral 'freedom rally', Scott promises to crack down on Venezuelan government - Miami Herald

The current governments approach looks eerily familiar.

By Joshua Kurlantzick for The Diplomat

July 11, 2017

The National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government in Myanmar has now been in office for more than a year, with Aung San Suu Kyi as de facto head of government. Suu Kyi certainly wields sizable influence. In fact, Suu Kyi has often been criticized, by commentators and members of her own party, for keeping too tight-fisted control of actions by the government, so much so that NLD members of parliament seemingly have little to do.

To be sure, on some policy areas, Suu Kyi does not have the level of control that leaders of other, more established democracies enjoy. The military remains an extraordinarily powerful actor in Myanmar, and one apparently capable of operating, in outlying areas at least, without even clearing policy through the Cabinet. The military retains its percentage of seats in parliament, essential control over its budget, and its strong resistance to any constitutional change. Proponents of constitutional change that might reduce the formal powers of the armed forces, like former NLD lawyer U Ko Ni, have been murdered.

Nonetheless, there are areas of policy over which Suu Kyi should enjoy significant influence, and freedom of the press is one of them. Suu Kyi was a longtime opposition leader, at a time (mostly) when Myanmars media was tightly controlled, the security forces regularly detained reporters, and state media outlets used their pages to mock and condemn her. She could use her bully pulpit to promote independent media, greater freedoms for journalists working throughout Myanmar, and an end to media monopolies. She could step in strongly if journalists were detained, and call for greater transparency in government transparency that might actually work in her favor, since a more vibrant Myanmar press could well expose abuses by the armed forces and, indirectly, apply pressure for constitutional change.

But Suu Kyi has not taken this approach. Instead, over the past year, press freedom in Myanmar seems to have regressed. In some respects, press freedom in Myanmar now seems more restrictive than it was in the final years of the former Thein Sein government. The Suu Kyi government has not tried to change existing laws that are major barriers to a free press. The Committee to Protect JournalistsShawn Crispin notes:

Chief among those laws is section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, a broad provision that carries potential three-year prison terms for cases of defamation over communications networks. While the law was used only occasionally against journalists under military rule, politicians, military officials, and even Buddhist monks are increasingly using it now to stifle online and social media criticism.

The Myanmar chapter of the PEN press freedom group has estimated that over 55 cases have been filed, under this law, just in the year since Suu Kyis government came into office. Meanwhile, late last month three journalists were arrested in Shan State, under a different Unlawful Association law. These reporters included one fromThe Irrawaddy; they had been covering one of the countrys ethnic insurgencies as well as allegations of abuses by the state security forces. The return of a climate of fear is very disturbing,wroteThe Irrawaddys editor-in-chief, Aung Zaw, after the publications reporter was arrested.

As with the rising toll of defamation cases, Suu Kyi has said nothing about the arrests in Shan State. A spokesperson for her partytold the New York Times, For media personnel, press freedom is a key need For us, peace, national development and economic development are the priority, and then democracy and human rights, including press freedom.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyis government has enacted other restrictions on press access. It has made it nearly impossible for journalists to cover parts of Rakhine State in the west. The Suu Kyi government also recentlyrefused to provide visasto UN investigators tasked with analyzing the situation in Rakhine State and allegations of abuse by Myanmar security forces in Rakhine State. In some ways, the Suu Kyi government is looking more and more like its predecessors.

Joshua Kurlantzick is senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). This originally appeared over at CFRs Asia Unbound here and is republished here with kind permission.

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Why Myanmar's Suu Kyi Has Failed on Media Freedom - The Diplomat

AURORA, Colo Robert and Jean Terry stood looking up at the Colorado Freedom Memorial under a row of names. Your brother was 14th I see him, they said pointing above on the wall.

The Terrys came to visit and remember her brother Raymond Stolte who was killed in WWII.

The Freedom Memorial is dedicated to all from Colorado who died while defending freedom.

But July 3rd,someone vandalized itcausing at least $55,000 in damage.

Stolte's name is just one panel over from the glass that someone smashed the day before Independence Day.

"It's hard to understand the mindset of someone that would damage something like this, Robert Terry said. You know it's just beyond my comprehension.

Some of their friends are also among six thousand names of those who died from Colorado.

More than half of whom never made it back home but were buried overseas.

"They were headed back to the fire base when the IED went off under his vehicle, said John Harris whose son Blake was killed in Iraq 10 years ago and now appears on the memorial.

"I think it's an affront to every family member that has a name on the memorial."

"Their kids are on this memorial, saidColorado Freedom Memorialfounder Rick Crandall. So whoever breaks it you broke a piece of glass you broke the heart of families whose hearts have been broken enough already. I mean this is beyond sick to me."

Read more from FOX 31 Denver.

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Hundreds gather to help restore vandalized Colorado Freedom ... - Fox News

After a productive start, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, saw their bats go cold en route to a season-high fourth straight loss Saturday night against the Lake Erie Crushers at Sprenger Stadium by a final score of 4-1.

Taylor Oldham singled with one out in the top of the first and took third on an Andre Mercurio base hit to right field. With two out for the Freedom (32-18), Andrew Godbold drove a ground-rule double to left-center to plate Oldham for the games first run, but a flyout left Mercurio and Godbold stranded in scoring position.

Payton Lobdell (1-3) would go on to cruise through six quality innings for the Crushers (22-27), allowing just two hits and one walk after the first inning.

Freedom starter Enrique Zamora (1-1) battled through command problems through his first four innings, including escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a double-play grounder in the second, but managed to hold Lake Erie scoreless until the fifth. Tanner Lubach led off the frame with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.

L.J. Kalawaia then lined a single to right field, the first Crushers hit of the game, to score Lubach and tie the game. Jordan Dean doubled Kalawaia to third, and Brandon Murray gave Lake Erie a 2-1 lead with a RBI-groundout to shortstop. Sean Hurley capped the Crushers rally with a RBI-single to end Zamoras evening.

Patrick McGrath took over for Zamora with two out and promptly struck out Cody Lenahan to end the inning, but the left-hander gave up an additional run in the sixth on a Lubach RBI-double. Matt Kaster and Sam Brunner each pitched one scoreless inning the rest of the way for the Freedom, but Lake Erie reliever Andrew Utterback retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth.

Jose Brizuela led off the ninth with a bunt single off Chandler Jagodzinski, only to be tagged out on a double-play grounder before Godbold struck out swinging to end the game.

The fourth straight loss established a new season-long losing streak for the Freedom, who have also lost three consecutive series heading into the Frontier League all-star break.

The Freedom will look to avoid the series sweep in Sundays finale. Jordan Kraus (7-3) will take the mound for the Freedom against his former team, while Lake Erie will counter with right-hander Steve Hagen (3-3). First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. at Sprenger Stadium.

The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY.The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.

Florence Freedom

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Freedom skid reaches four games as bats go cold; try to avoid road sweep by Crushers today - User-generated content (press release) (registration)